Claimed by the Billionaire: Rescue #3 by Danielle Jamesen Read Free Book Online Page B

your face all the time.
    But I was nervous. And
it was because Bradley had asked me to come with him to see Winter and her
lawyer. When he asked me, I thought he had lost it. What would be the point?
But he told me that I being there would unnerve her — that he loved me enough
to bring me there, that he had nothing to hide in regards to her. For some
reason, I couldn’t picture Winter ever unnerved, especially by me. I thought
back to the time she spit in my face. At least lawyers would be here now. Would
she really attack a pregnant lady?
    That was another reason
Bradley asked me to come with him — the pregnancy. He said knowing that I was
there, pregnant with his child, would throw her off balance. It would be his
last hurrah before he signed off on the divorce agreement.
    The doors slid open and
I realized my palms were sweaty. I tried to wipe them off on my blouse. I kept
telling myself that I had nothing to fear as the girl behind the desk led us to
an office at the end of the hallway. She knocked twice and then opened the door
for us.
    Bradley’s lawyer was at
one side of the table, an older black man who was going through some papers. On
the other side was Winter’s lawyer, a tall Hispanic man with a narrow face. And
then there was Winter.
    Her hair was still dyed
the flattering brown color that made her appear more adult than her blonde
locks had. She was wearing a pantsuit — how modest of her — and her fake nails
had been removed, as if that made her appear more down to earth. But her makeup
couldn’t hide the fact she had bags under her eyes that showed she hadn’t been
sleeping. She appeared older too, as if she had been aging at a faster rate
than normal.
    When Winter saw me, her
entire body froze. She went extremely still, from head to toe and her eyes
narrowed. I wanted to turn around and leave just then, bolt down to Bradley’s
limo and just wait it out. Me being here didn’t unnerve her at all. No, instead
she looked as though she just wanted to kill me.
    “What is she doing
here?” Winter spat, not averting her gaze from me.
    “This won’t take long
and we’re going to lunch after.” Bradley lied, his tone mild.
    She seemed to get
angrier, “I still do not understand what she is doing here.”
    Bradley pulled out a
chair for me next to his lawyer and I sat down, trying to smooth out my skirt
and look natural. Bradley sat next to me and laced his fingers through mine.
Winter’s gaze narrowed.
    “Is she allowed to be
here?” She said, turning to look at her own lawyer, “This whore of my husband’s
shouldn’t be allowed in here.”
    “Ex-husband.” Bradley
connected lately.
    Winter’s gaze narrowed
at him, “We’ll see about that.”
    Bradley’s lawyer
cleared his throat and began to tell Winter that Bradley was agreeing to the
terms of the divorce and would be paying the sum she had requested. I watched
her face very closely. It seemed to fall as his lawyer talked on. She had been
hoping he was going to stay and fight, I realized. That was all that this was.
Deep down, I knew that Winter wanted Bradley to hang around forever and maybe
change his mind and come back to her. I wonder if she could tell now that it
wasn’t going to happen. It must be sinking in for her because her face was
darkening.
    “So what, that is it?”
She snapped.
    Bradley didn’t reply,
just left his steady gaze upon her.
    Winter kept going,
“You’re just going to go through with the divorce?”
    “I told you in the
first place that this would be happening.”
    “Because you’re with
this slut? You know she is using you, Bradley. Her family is broke and now you
have all the money she would need, don’t you see that? Listen, I’ll take you
back. We can start over. Have children of our own. I’ll forgive you for
cheating.”
    Bradley shook his head,
“Winter, it is not cheating if I’m not with you anymore.”
    She seemed not to hear
him but to keep going on, almost desperate, “You don’t